Trek Portland? (Commuter)

H M Leary wrote:
Thanks, Mike!

BTW, the last time I was in Waterloo, Wisc. I saw a few Trek bikes thet
were manufactured with full fenders, generator lights, rack... the whole
nine yards. called the 7770 or some such.

Not available for sale in the USA, but I did see several in Ireland.

Maybe the Portland is derived from this??

HAND

The FX line on the co.uk site has a bike with Disc brakes, but it's a
"comfort" bike. Certainly a cool concept, but not the "ultimate rain
bike" that I'm looking for.

I'm 6'3" and ride a 60cm Madone without issue. I have a lot of post
and a 130 stem, but the fit works well for a racing position. I looked
at the geometry and the Portland looks like a good option to match.

The best part of disc brakes up here (Seattle) are when flats occur.
Your hands aren't a gritty mess of rim gunk. I'm hoping that more disc
road bikes start coming out here soon so that there are more options.

Andrew F Martin wrote:
I'm 6'3" and ride a 60cm Madone without issue. I have a lot of post
and a 130 stem, but the fit works well for a racing position. I looked
at the geometry and the Portland looks like a good option to match.

The best part of disc brakes up here (Seattle) are when flats occur.
Your hands aren't a gritty mess of rim gunk. I'm hoping that more disc
road bikes start coming out here soon so that there are more options.

I guess I don't do enough braking in the rain to think disks worth the
trouble.

Yes, my bikes become a gritty mess in the rain. But do disk brakes
really reduce that by any significant amount?

And to splice threads: I hope disk brake bikes get front forks &/or
dropouts designed to resist the downward ejection force on the axle.

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames...ase/index.html

- Frank Krygowski

H M Leary wrote:


BTW, the last time I was in Waterloo, Wisc. I saw a few Trek bikes thet
were manufactured with full fenders, generator lights, rack... the whole
nine yards. called the 7770 or some such.

Not available for sale in the USA, but I did see several in Ireland.

Isn't it odd - and frustrating - that a bike made in the US isn't
available for sale in the US?

Sure, it wouldn't be the most popular bike sold in America. But those
of us in the US with unusual requirements should be able to get one by
special order, at least!

- Frank Krygowski

We have a couple guys with Redline Disc-R's and one with a custom
Clemente Disc bike. Their rims are always spotless compared to my
brake-"dust"/slime rims.

"Andrew F Martin" wrote in message
oups.com...
We have a couple guys with Redline Disc-R's and one with a
custom
Clemente Disc bike. Their rims are always spotless compared to
my
brake-"dust"/slime rims.

I just want them to stop. I could barely stop my bike yesterday
while riding to work in a rain storm through about two miles of
standing water. All the storm drains were blocked and it turned
my commute route into a lake with leaf islands. I run STI with
some well adjusted cantis, and they would not stop in under 50
feet. Dual pivots may have done a better job, but I would hope
disks are even better. -- Jay Beattie.

I have some decent Campy dual pivot calipers and when it's super-wet
like that - I can actually feel the sensation of the layer of water
between the brake pad and the rim. After a half a second the brake
grabs, but it's a little unsettling to know that you need to
"pre-brake" in order to stop in time.

The only problems my teammates report is when they swap back to their
regular road bikes is the feeling that the brakes are so much weaker.

The pic is of my rain bike hanging upside down in my garage (then
flipped). The wrap-around front flap is the key to "dry" feet.

http://tinyurl.com/adhct

-a

Andrew F Martin wrote:
The pic is of my rain bike hanging upside down in my garage (then
flipped). The wrap-around front flap is the key to "dry" feet.

http://tinyurl.com/adhct

That's an interesting bike. It's pretty high-zoot for a commuter, it has
a lot of drop from saddle to handlebar, and the front mudflap is ugly
but probably quite effective.

What really surprises me, though, is the rear fender. It looks like you
didn't have enough clearance to rotate it all the way forward. I'd bet
your feet and drivetrain would stay cleaner if you could get it to
rotate all the way to the bottom bracket.

And is that a mudflap hanging off the back fender? That fender is really
low already, so I'd like to know why you put a mud flap back there. Do
you frequently ride with a group in the rain? The only function I can
see for a back fender that low is to keep the next guy dry.

The background bikes are interesting, too. You spend some time on the
track, and I can see why you might want such a big drop from saddle to
bars on the track. But a commuter bike is usually a different story.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edh

JeffWills wrote:
H M Leary wrote:

In article .com,
"Andrew F Martin" wrote:


Anybody seen this in a shop yet? I need a new rain bike that actually
stops when I want it to.

-a

My LBS says they won't be avalable until January.



That would be about right- it takes a little time for manufacturers to
fill the orders after product introduction (Trek does this in August, I
think).

Here's what it looks like in the catalog:
http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike...id=1037000&f=7
(Warning: Flash-heavy site, to no good purpose.)

Flash is like cheap candy. Tempting initially, but it gets old even by
the first taste.

\\paul
--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the words to numbers
if you want to reply to me:.